Module V - Minerals: Gold, Black Gold & all the Rest

Mineral Resources of Alaska,  2011
AK Dept. of Natural Resources and Division of
Geological and Geophysical Surveys
Interactive Minerals Map

No matter where you are, we're glad you're here! 

Essential Questions 

• What have been the major components of the Alaska economy during the American period of 1867-present?  
• How are the major components of the economy interconnected? 
• How is the Alaska economy a reflection of diverse, and sometimes conflicting, perspectives of the natural landscape? 

ENGAGE

Prospector Viewing Sunset at Mouth of Bear Creek
ca. early 1900's  VILDA  ASL-P41-033

Big Gold 
Who hasn't heard of the Klondike gold rush? It conjures up images of hardship, adventure, riches, darkness, the mysterious cold Arctic.  

Robert Service, Jack London, Rex Beach all immortalized the gold rush experience in poetry and prose.  Even Charlie Chaplin's Tramp traveled to the Yukon to take part in the gold rush.  

Yukon?  Yes, Yukon Territory, Canada.  So, why is the Klondike gold rush, which began in 1896, so much a part of the popular imagination about Alaska?  What is the connection?

The Gold Rush, 1925
Wikipedia.org

Actually, minerals prospecting and development in Alaska began long before the Klondike gold rush.  The Russians had focused on looking for coal; their gold was the soft gold of fur pelts.  

The Americans ranged far and wide to look for gold, inspired by the earlier California gold rush of 1848 and various minerals strikes in the American West.  The first actual gold strike in Alaska was in Sitka in the 1870's, followed by a major strike in the Juneau area in the early 1880's.  

The Rush Is On! 
Thus started the first stampede of prospectors to Alaska; parallel strikes in Canada brought more migrants north and resulted in the discoveries in the Klondike.  

Nearing the Summit of Chilkoot Pass, 1898
VILDA  ASL-P21-41

There are four major gold rushes with major impacts for Alaska: Juneau 1880's, Canadian Klondike late 1890's, Nome late 1890's-early 1900's, and Fairbanks early 1900's.  Smaller strikes in the 1880's on the Kenai Peninsula, and in the early 1900's in the Alaska Interior, had regional, often short-lived impacts. 

While the popular image is of the singular prospector eking out an existence with a shovel, gold pan, and sluice box,  gold development in Alaska moved quickly into large-scale mining operations. 

1500 ft. Level, Ready Bullion,
Treadwell Mines, early 1900's
VILDA  ASL-P39-0872

Hydraulic mining was common in the Interior, dredges were used on the Seward Peninsula, and the famous Treadwell Mines and the AJ Mines in Southeast Alaska were major complexes of hard rock lode mining. 

Mining camps,  boom towns,  and company towns evolved, with community longevity based upon the type of mining being done and the speed with which the gold was "played out". 

Most immigrants were men, but enterprising women came as well, with several playing prominent roles as successful businesswomen.

As the gold rushes coincided with the late nineteenth century mass immigration to the U.S. from eastern and southern Europe, prospectors to Alaska represented this interesting, diverse demographic.  

Group Portrait of Two Dozen Miners, 
Treadwell Mines early 1900's  
VILDA  ASL-162-007

Records from the Treadwell Mining operations on Douglas Island reveal that the workers in the tunnels spoke at least ten different languages.

World War II resulted in the closure of Alaska gold mines and gold mining did not recover until the government controlled gold price of $35/oz. was removed in the late 1960's.   

EXPLORE

So, what's the rest of the story of gold in Alaska? Today there are several large scale hard rock gold mine operations in Alaska, as well as smaller placer operations.  The Fort Knox and Nixon Fork mines of the Interior are among the major players today. 

These links provide an historical overview of gold in Alaska.  Read, and at the end of the first piece open the link Alaska's Gold which displays a website developed by the Alaska Rich Mining Project during the centennial of the gold rushes.  You will find a literal, rich gold mine of primary and secondary sources related to gold history in Alaska. Take a look and enrich your historical resources.

• America's Territory - Gold!  

• Alaska's Gold 

Take a look, also, at this article from the Anchorage Daily News 11.08.09 provides information on the current state of gold mining in Alaska.

• Alaska Gold Production

EXAMINE

• What are some links between mineral development and other sectors  of the Alaska economy?
• What is the current status of mineral development in Alaska?
• Over time, what has been the pattern of development for Alaska's minerals?

ENGAGE

All that glitters isn't gold
Gold is not the only mineral resource in Alaska.  There have been significant mining developments of coal, copper, lead, zinc, platinum, tin, and currently there are efforts to survey the potential for rare earth minerals.  Some minerals are still being extracted, while others are not, due to expense/price/demand conditions. Coal has long been extracted in the Healy area of Southcentral Alaska at the  Usibelli Coal Mine.  

Kennecott Copper Corp. Bldgs. and Town
1953  VILDA UAA-hmc-1071-f7-11

In a future module you will learn more about the connections of Alaska minerals exploration/development to issues of population and settlement, competition for subsistence resources, transportation changes, and cultural change.  However, at this point you can probably making some tentative connections.

AK Division of Economic Development 2011

EXPLORE SOME MORE....
Please read:  Alaska's Heritage, Chapter 4-15  Mining . The first section is a review of the gold history, so browse through this and start a focused reading with the section "Other minerals attract attention in Alaska". 

Note the brief, but important period of the Kennecott Copper Mine and its impact on transportation infrastructure (more of that in the next module!)   Recall the location - Copper River/Wrangell Mts. area.  Read through the rest of the chapter, including the section on oil/gas development.


Refer to this webpage  Mining in Alaska to locate major producing and potential mine sites. Open links to the specific mines for more detail.  Also take a look at the 
Interactive Minerals Map and the profiles of current Alaska mines.   

Look at the maps to identify the areas of current or future mining that are closest to where you are currently living and teaching.  

EXAMINE

• What is the attitude of the local population?  
• What are the net economic benefits to be gained by this development?  
• What are the environmental and lifestyle issues that are discussed and analyzed?
• How has this development affected the lives of the people in your area?

ENGAGE

Big Oil 
The history of big oil development in Alaska, and its role in the Alaska economy, is very complex.  It has affected not only the economy, but all areas of life for all Alaskans.  Life in Alaska would be very, very different without oil development and the revenue that it has provided to the state and its citizens. 

As you read in Chapter 4- 15 Mining, oil development in Alaska is not new.  The oil wells at Katalla (Look in the southeast corner of Prince William Sound on a map to find this.) in the early 1900's produced oil that was refined into kerosene.  Small stuff.

Drilling Rig, Prudhoe Bay
msnbc.msn.com

Exploration for oil was later conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey and oil reserves were set aside for future government use.  This is the origin of the NPRA, once the Naval Petroleum Reserve Alaska, now the National Petroleum Reserve Alaska.  (Find it on a map of the Arctic/North Slope, south of Barrow.)  

After World War II exploration continued, with the oil/gas development of the 1950's focused upon Cook Inlet.   Medium size stuff.

Alaska Oil Pipeline
alaska-in-pictures.com

The extraordinary ARCO oil strike of 1968, on state land east of Barrow, fits the definition of big oil.  As Chapter 4-15 describes, the federal and state legislation that was required to facilitate opening of the area for development as well as for allowing for  pipeline construction from Prudhoe Bay to the port at Valdez, occupied the energy and attention of Alaskans for a decade, and forever changed the economy of Alaska.  

AK Dept.of Natural Resources
Division of Oil and Gas 2011

Oil  taxes and royalties paid to Alaska by the oil companies who had North Slope leases turned Alaska from being one of the poorest states to one of the richest.  Oil revenue currently provides about 88% of revenue for the state, even while oil production has diminished over the last decade.  

Trans-Alaska Pipeline System
with Pump Station Locations
wikipedia.co

The story of big oil in Alaska continues today with discussions and debates about a gas pipeline, off-shore development, exploration and development in the NPRA, controversy about access to oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, the aging Alyeska pipeline, environmental issues related to oil/gas development and climate change, revenue arrangements between the state and the oil companies, oil prices and Alaska's treasury/budget, uses of the Alaska Permanent Fund...the lists goes on and on.  

Are you getting a sense of how oil development in Alaska is integral not only to the economy, but to all aspects of life here?

EXTEND

There are myriad sources related to minerals/oil development in Alaska.  All of the companies with leases to operate in Alaska have their own websites. Native corporations which are involved directly and indirectly with this development provide information on their websites.

Media outlets, such as the major newspapers, have archives of news stories. Conservation organizations have websites with their work related to this industry. All the federal and state agencies which have any role in permitting, survey and mapping, negotiating contracts, enforcing laws and regulations related to the industry, have websites that are among the most helpful.  Many of these are listed in the resources section of this course.  Maps and reports are abundant on these websites. 

Among the most useful are:

AK Dept of Commerce, Community, and Eco. Development

• Division of Economic Development

AK Dept of Natural Resources 

• Division of Oil and Gas

From Teachers' Domain are two videos related to the oil industry and Alaska:

• Building the Alaska Oil Pipeline

• Oilspill: Exxon Valdez, 1989

There's much to understand about Alaska's rich history of resources and economies over the years. We hope you'll allow yourself the time to access these other great resources and become more aware of the importance of the minerals industry, and especially the oil industry, in Alaska.  This will provide you with some more important puzzle pieces connecting Alaska's natural and human histories. 

What's Next? 
From valuable non-renewable mineral resources back to the roles of Alaska's history of potentially more renewable industries of Farming, Herding, Logging, and Tourism.